Trucks and excavators stolen from Kew worksite

A small-business owner has been left devastated after thieves raided his Kew worksite and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trucks and excavators.

A tradie whose trucks were stolen by thieves in a brazen overnight heist in Kew says he feels like he’s been kicked in the guts and has even considered closing his business.

Electrical contractor Michael Newton, who runs a small business employing 30 staff called High Access Cabling, said he was furious when he discovered two trucks and three excavators were stolen from a worksite in Yarra Boulevard late last month.

Police put the value of the stolen vehicles at $800,000, while Mr Newton said the used equipment was worth closer to $450,000, and he said his business lost tens of thousands of dollars more through lost productivity and job delays.

Police are hunting thieves who stole two trucks and three excavators from a worksite in Yarra Boulevard, Kew, sometime between 5pm on July 21 and 5.30am on July 22.

He said he was trying to make an honest living and he felt terrible for his staff, who’d turned up to work on a rostered day off to help him with a special job just to be sent home.

“It’s angry and frustrating. It’s basically just trying to make an honest living and other people not making an honest living come in and floor you,” Mr Newton said.

“We’ve had to hire machines, that cost us money. We had to cancel jobs for a couple of days … we’re one truck short at the moment which is causing us major issues.”

Both trucks were recovered by police, with one picked up yesterday (August 7) in Broadmeadows.

But Mr Newton said he believed there was little chance he’d see the excavators again and he suspected they’d been sold on the black market interstate or overseas.

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“The excavators were covered by insurance, but you never get the full amount back,” he said.

Boroondara detective Senior Constable Colin Lavelle said the culprits cut the locks before forcing their way through the gates of the Kew worksite sometime between 5pm on July 21 and 5.30am on July 22.

A 48-year-old man was arrested on August 7 in relation to the theft of one of the trucks, which allegedly bore stolen number plates and was carrying another excavator allegedly stolen from a worksite in Wantirna South.

While it was impossible to say if the vehicles were “stolen to order”, Sen-Constable Lavelle said such large scale thefts from worksites were rare and it appeared a group of people were targeting excavators.

He suggested business owners install trackers on their excavators and urged anyone with information regarding the Kew thefts to contact police.

Police investigations are ongoing to find the other people involved in the theft, he said.